Avenfield reference: Capt Mohammad Safdar arrested

RAWALPINDI: Captain retired Mohammad Safdar Awan, son-in-law of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau ((NAB). 

The arrest came two days after he was sentenced to one year in prison after being convicted in the Avenfield  corruption reference. 

Senior PML-N leader, who was a candidate from Mansehra, reached Rawalpindi in a rally  and was leading the procession when a two-member NAB team took him into custody.

Scores of PML-N workers tried to surround Capt Safdar in a failed attempt to save him from getting arrested. 

He was formally arrested from the PML-N's central office located near Sixth Road Flyover . 

Safdar, who was convicted in Avenfield reference along with his wife and father-in-law on Friday, said in an audio message he was going to surrender himself at a city chose by his party: the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

In the the message recorded in Hindku language, Safdar said he had earlier decided to surrender in Mansehra, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkwa 's Hazara division, but now he chose another city decided by the party. He, however, didn't disclose name of the city.

The former MNA requested his supporters to back Sardar Yousuf during the upcoming election, expressing the hope that the PMLN would sweep the entire Hazara division in the upcoming election.

He also rejected the impression that he might be backing some candidates other than that of the PMLN.

The accountability court in Islamabad sentenced him to one year imprisonment.